Commercial gas fryers generally have a fry pot for containing a cooking fluid and a means for heating the cooking fluid. One type of fry pot, known as the open pot design, requires heat to be applied to the exterior sides of the fry pot. The open pot design has an advantage of being easily cleaned. Open pot designs use either an atmospheric burner or a forced combustion burner. Open pot designs with an atmospheric burner achieve an efficiency of about 45%, while open pot designs with forced combustion burners achieve an efficiency of about 65 to 70%. The disposition of the burner adjacent the exterior sides of the fry pot has the disadvantage of heating the entire fry pot including the temperature sensitive wiring and controls.
Another type of fry pot, known as the tube design, has heat applied by means of one or more tubes (typically, four for a standard pot) that are disposed in the fry pot below the cooking fluid level. The tube fryer has an efficiency that is about 3 to 5% greater than that of the open pot design with an atmospheric burner. The tube fryer is also difficult to clean due to the tubes that are permanently installed in the fry pot.
There is need for a frying apparatus and method that achieves a high efficiency without an external burner.
There is also a need for a frying apparatus that has a heat exchanger that is removably disposed to facilitate cleaning the fry pot.